Monday Pictures Present: Safety First!

Hey hey! My short film is finished and posted on Youtube.

Check it out...



Big props to Chip, Stacey, Jessica, Matt, Ryan and Bob for seeing it through to fruition.

Cheers,
Mr.B

EDITED TO ADD LATER:
I had my camera on "the set" and had the folks there take some pics of the filming. I thought they might make interesting additions to this entry. Check it out...


This is Chip and Stacey ready to to make their first entrance into the start of the short film. We called this "position 1". We had to reset to it and redo their entrance a couple of times over.




This is me giving Stacey and Chip some notes on the actual physics of stepping off of the corner and "accidentally" grabbing Stacey's boob. Believe it or not, getting that small action to happen naturally and then hold in place took a lot of rehearsal. We also planned out their traffic patterns and cheated them close to the building and had Stacey slow down her walk to give Chip time to make the corner and step out and hold her back. There were quite a few rehearsals to get it just right. In the end, though, they absolutely nailed it. And were able to duplicate it time after time after time.

This is me watching one of the rehearsals. One thing that didn't get photographed was the two or three dozen times that I ran across a busy Lawrence Ave to check camera setup or to give Chip and Stacey a note from something that we'd seen. It's funny but the street was a constant stream of traffic the whole time we were there, but you really can't tell it from the film. We noticed that in editing. And decided to try to actually use shots that didn't show how insanely busy that street was on a busy Memorial Day.

Ryan was our "Production Assistant" on the set. He held the ipod docking station that we used for onset playback. It was actually pretty useful. The swoop around Chip's arm to Stacey's boob and back up to her face was done to the music. As was the triple boob squeeze. He also acted as Stacey's personal assistant, carrying her makeup case and bringing her snacks. So, that's why he got credited for that.
Also, because when we were making the credits he said, "Can I also be listed as Personal Secretary to Stacey?"
Done and done!

Matt and Bob acted as cameramen for the gig. That's Bob in the white and Matt waving at the camera. Bob did most of the across the street shots and Matt did the handheld shots. He also edited the film and had a small cameo in the end as "Guy Who Gets Grabbed By The Crotch."

Finally, here's some very nice widescreen shots of the set, from the cameras setup point. It gives you an idea how lovely and sunny the day really was and how nice and ratty that old building was. Originally, I was going to shoot the other side of the street and film the whole thing against a parking lot background (which would also allow me to shoot some aerial footage from the Ravenswood Metra overpass), but on the day of, I switched the street sides, because that ratty, old run-down chicken restaurant made a much better background. I wouldn't be surprised if that thing got bulldozed in the next year. Such is the way of life in this city.

Anyways, here's the two nice shots...